Wasting children's time

Wasting children's time

December 07, 2007 1:47 PM

When discussing the education system's poor performance it is common to focus on the costs to the economy, the children concerned and their chance of making their way in the world or even the waste of taxpayers' money thrown at an underperforming system. However, the education system's failure also wastes huge amounts of the pupil's time. Take this story, from the Telegraph:

"Children are making virtually no progress in mathematics in the first three years of secondary education, a major study showed yesterday.

Even the brightest pupils struggle between the ages of 11 and 14 as they "plateau" after leaving primary school.

Some children may even be going backwards - raising fresh concerns over the way they are taught."

Now, I have it on good authority than an 11 to 14 year old will have 4 to 5 hours of Maths in each school week. A school year has around 34 weeks in it. That means that wasting three years of education means that each pupil is wasting around 459 hours; perhaps parents worrying about their children wasting time in front of the television have chosen the wrong target for their ire?

Our education system needs real reform so that we can end this waste.

When discussing the education system's poor performance it is common to focus on the costs to the economy, the children concerned and their chance of making their way in the world or even the waste of taxpayers' money thrown at an underperforming system. However, the education system's failure also wastes huge amounts of the pupil's time. Take this story, from the Telegraph:

"Children are making virtually no progress in mathematics in the first three years of secondary education, a major study showed yesterday.

Even the brightest pupils struggle between the ages of 11 and 14 as they "plateau" after leaving primary school.

Some children may even be going backwards - raising fresh concerns over the way they are taught."

Now, I have it on good authority than an 11 to 14 year old will have 4 to 5 hours of Maths in each school week. A school year has around 34 weeks in it. That means that wasting three years of education means that each pupil is wasting around 459 hours; perhaps parents worrying about their children wasting time in front of the television have chosen the wrong target for their ire?

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